Global warming/debate/position quiz

The Global Warming / Climate Change Position Quiz

The following questions are an attempt to itemize all of the significant areas in which disagreement might exist so that parties debating this issue can focus in on resolving their actual disagreements rather than what they imagine the other person might believe. It should also be helpful in preventing discussion participants from shifting position without notice.

Quiz v1

1. Is there any evidence that global temperatures have begun rising sharply since the beginning of the industrial age?

1a. If there is evidence, is it fairly strong/conclusive?

2. By approximately how many degrees Celsius would global temperatures need to rise in order to cause severe* consequences?

*severe enough that it would be worth putting forth global-scale effort towards reducing the rise before it happens

3. Approximately what level of oil prices (expressed as a factor of current prices) would it take to cause a food crisis in the US?

4. In what time frame (a decade? a generation? a century? never?) is this level of increase likely to happen?

5. Is there any reason to think that accumulation of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has reached unprecedented levels?

6. Is there any reason to think that unusually high levels of carbon dioxide would cause serious ecological problems?

This version was originally posted here.

Quiz v2

For each of the following statements, please indicate whether you agree or disagree. Indicate clearly the extent of your (dis)agreement, and feel free to elaborate.

1. Major global climate changes are taking place right now.

2. These changes are likely to result in trillions of dollars of damage, at a minimum.

3. There are actions we can take to minimize the damage (even if we can't affect the change itself).

3a. The sooner we begin taking such actions, the less costly the damage will be in the long run.

4. There are actions we can take to reduce the severity of the climate change itself.

4a. The sooner we begin taking such actions, the less severe the climate change will be in the long run.

5. The climate changes taking place right now are unprecedented within human history.

6. The climate changes taking place right now are probably (though not certainly) caused by human activity.

7. The conclusions of climate scientists are the most reliable guide to how the climate is likely to change in the future.

8. If the consensus among climate scientists is biased, it is just as likely to be biased in the direction of being too conservative as it is to be biased in the direction of being too extreme.

9. Scientific bias with regard to new theories tends to err on the side of being too conservative, and asymptotically approaches the correct values as more evidence arises.

This version was asked as part of a #LunchWithAConservative follow-up email: User:Woozle/LwaC/2015-04-03